It looks like the metropolitan area surrounding and including the city of NY has about 38million. That includes the other side of the East River. But I still think these numbers are arbitrary because we can agree that this is the biggest MLS market. However, aside from Boston and Philly, we also have the most competition with other sports. And if you've gone to those other cities you'd note that they all seem to take their sports far more seriously than we do.

You arent following my numbers correctly. What Im trying to say is that yes there maybe 38 million(more like 20M) in NYC, and if you discount the snobs, thats 18M people still available up for grabs. And if you discount the people east of the Hudson that still 3.5M people to draw from. Much more than just about any other market in MLS yet those other markets have just as many distractions, sports or otherwise. You look at Portland for instance, you may say they only have the Trailblazers to compete against but the reality is that the lifestyle there is alot different than what it is here and the opportunity for other activities there exist beyond sports. Same goes for Seattle and Vancouver, and even LA.

With that in mind, you aren't realizing that the demographic in NJ has many of the same qualities as what I noted about those in NY. It basically comes down to foreign or not into soccer.

Again, generalizing.

Yes you are over generalizing IMO. As a resident of NNJ for over 20 years I can tell you that most of the people there are locals, with pockets of forigners. I think in our world we also tend to count forigners as "ethnic" communities were in fact most people in those ethnic communities are "locals". And like I said before forigners and Eurosnobs arent totally opposed to MLS. Like I said before this is just the reality of NY but in those same communities of ecuadorians, salvadoreans, peruvians, argentinians, etc in other markets HAVE embraced MLS. Because in those markets the club has been marketed in a proper way. THey may not love the club like they do in their homelands but they go every once in a while stay up to date with results. Where as here you get an immediate disgust for the club and league.

Posted 16 April 2012 - 12:14 PM

The Metrologist

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Location:Beyond The Valley Of The Hudson

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As the league continues to grow as quickly as it is

An assumption that still needs to be questioned, I think. By some measures, yes, the league may be growing - sponsorship perhaps, as well as attendance (though those numbers are bolstered by a few new additions like Seattle, and it's always safe to assume that even the 'tickets distributed' numbers for many teams, including this one, are fairy tales worthy of Hans Christian Andersen.) But it's not like MLS is booming in the stands, and certainly not in the Nielsen ratings, where a damp squib would be an improvement.

No one makes TV commercials to get people to look at their billboards.

You might want to check those numbers again. You're adding the totals and the subtotals, which doubles the actual number.That said, North Jersey itself is 6 million people. Standing alone, that would be the 5th largest metro area in the USA, more than enough to support an MLS franchise.

We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.

Posted 16 April 2012 - 01:49 PM

iced1776

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An assumption that still needs to be questioned, I think. By some measures, yes, the league may be growing - sponsorship perhaps, as well as attendance (though those numbers are bolstered by a few new additions like Seattle, and it's always safe to assume that even the 'tickets distributed' numbers for many teams, including this one, are fairy tales worthy of Hans Christian Andersen.) But it's not like MLS is booming in the stands, and certainly not in the Nielsen ratings, where a damp squib would be an improvement.

When I referred to the league growing I meant more in terms of the quality of play on the field rather than growth of fans/assets. I haven't been following the league as long as most of you but even between a few years ago when I started watching and now there is a noticeable leap in quality that will only continue to grow as its reputation gets better and the salary cap raises.

Posted 16 April 2012 - 07:31 PM

conquistador

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For the record, I fucked up my math and made a quick post. Jake pointed out clearly where that was. Didn't need 8 replies to point out the same thing.
Anyway that only plays into making my argument stronger, that Metro4Life's number were way over inflated.

Posted 17 April 2012 - 06:54 PM

New Jersey Devils ... New Jersey Nets even at the top of their games, reaching the final, winning the final, etc - the hype still wasn't there.

Both teams were as poorly marketed as the Metros/RB. Taking your fan base for granted & having a security & usher staff that mistreats fans, will do it. The Meadowlands Arena was known as the deadest arena in professional sports, because as soon as anyone did anything to get the crowd into the game, it was stopped. The idiots at The Rock are no different. Talk about power trips!There is tremendous interest in sports teams in northern NJ. But, treat people poorly and they won't come back. The basis of a successful sports franchise is the season ticket holder. RB is also learning that mistreatment of its STHs has a price.

We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams.

Posted 18 April 2012 - 12:51 AM

The attendance will never work, period. Has nothing to do with converting nonbelievers, or eurofags, or bandwagoners.

Look at:

1. New Jersey Devils2. New Jersey Nets

even at the top of their games, reaching the final, winning the final, etc - the hype still wasn't there. It's gonna be what it's gonna be.

Sorry but thats just a myth. During each teams championship runs they would sellout constantly. The Nets have been a poorly run organization with a reputation for being the worst team in the league for ages 2 good seasons isnt going to all of the sudden create a fanbase. And to say that the hype wasnt there probably means you either chose to ignore it or werent alive during those eras. During the Kidd-Martin era(the 2 good seasons the team ever had) they were the talk of the town specially since the Knicks werent all that good. Jason Kidd even won a MF Players of the week for fucks sake! Had they not imploded and changed the team around so much they might have been able to grow their fan base. Instead they quickly went back to their old ways. The Devils have always been up and down and the fact they traditionally dont shellout the big bucks for star players means they usually win with a bunch of role players and a couple of stars. So it makes it alot harder to convince people to come out to see the teams in those seasons where they arent doing so well. They just dont have that star power(excpet for Brodeur) to draw fans in on a daily basis.